Filing-cabinet.



H. ROUSSET.

FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-26. I918.

1,286, l 1 6. Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

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FILING-CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application filedAugust 26, 1918. Serial No. 251,431.

' Where there are a plurality of drawers 1ntended to be arranged in acertain sequence,

the misplacing of the drawers may cause considerable confusion and lossof time. This invention contemplates the equipment of each drawer andthe corresponding compartment of the cabinet with distinct cooperatingmeans which will permit the proper drawer to be fully inserted andhoused in the proper compartment, but

which will partially displace or push out a drawer when inse'rtedin thewrong compartment, so that the attention will be called to the mistakeand the same rectified at once. The invention will be first hereinafterdescribed in c'bnnection with the accompanying drawings, whichconstitute part of this specification, and then more specificallydefined in the claims at the end of the description.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters areused to designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views aFigure 1 is a broken perspective view of a filing cabinet showing two ofthe drawers equipped with means for preventing them from being misplacedin the cabinet.

Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional view of one of the springpressed tappetsillustrated in equipped with a'notched plate at the upper vlili edge ofits rear end to cooperate with the notched tappet shown in Figs. 4 and5.

Referrin first to Figs. 1 and 2, a portion of a ing cabinet is shown at1 fitted with a plurahty of drawers 2. The back grouped, so that whenthe proper drawer 1sv introduced into the proper compartment of thecabinet the tappets will enter the passages and the drawer may be-pushedfully into housed position in the cabinet and remain in such position.If, however, a drawer is inserted into the wrong compartment, as forinstance the right hand top drawer in Fig. 1 is placed in the left handtop compartment, or vice versa, the tappets will not be in line with theopenings or passages in the drawer, and the drawer will be held inpartially projected position in the cabinet, thus calling attention tothe fact that it has been misplaced.

In order to avoid undue wear andjars caused by the ends of the wrongdrawers coming in contact with the tappets, the latter are preferablyspring-pressed so as to yield when the drawer is pushed in butsubcabinet by the screws 7, while the other member 8 is normally held inprojected position by a coiled spring 9 interposed between and housed bysaid telescopic casing members. The member 8 may have outwardly bentlugs 10 engaging longitudinal grooves or ways 11 in the member 5 forpreventing said members from being separated, that is, for avoiding theentire removal of the member 8 from the member 5 under the influence ofthe spring.

Obviously, many forms and arrangements of tappets may be employed incarrying out this invention. three tappets are shown for each of theexample and a reater or less number of tappets may be use for eachdrawer, and'the arrangement or "grouping may be varied as desired. Theformation of each tappet may also be changed at will. As shown in Fi 3,for instance, the tappet may bea sing e member 12 mounted on a leaf orplate spring While groups of drawers in Fig. 1, this is simply by way of13 which may be secured by the screw 14 at the edge of a cavity 15 inthe back 6 of the cabinet, so that said tappet may be depressed intosaid cavity but will afterward be projected therefrom by the spring 13.

Another method of accomplishing the desired result is illustrated inFigs. 4, 5 and 6, where the drawer 16 has a notched plate 17 securedtothe upper edge of its rear end, and the tappet 18 has a depending flange19 in the nature of aakey provided with teeth 20' to fit the notches 24in the plate 17 The tappet 18 may be mounted to slide on a downwardlyoffset bracket 21 fastened to the upper portion 22 of each compartmentof the cabinet by screws 25, and be pressed by a spring 23 coiledaboutthe offset portion of said bracket. The teeth and notches in thetappets and plates, respectively, may be made in, an infinite number ofdifierent designs so as to difi'erentiate any tappet from all of theothers and thus prevent any drawer from being put away in the wrongcompartment of the cabinet in the same manner as the pin tappetsand'holes illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination witha filing cabinet having a plurality of compartments, of drawers to beinserted in said compartments, and distinctive cooperating means on eachdrawer and compartment for pushing out any drawer which is placed in thewrong compartment, thereby indicating the mistake which has been made.

2. The combination with a filing cabinet having a plurality ofcompartments, of. drawers to be inserted in said compart-.

ments and distinctive cooperating means on each drawer and compartmentfor indicating when a drawer is placed in the wrong compartment, saidmeans comprising a tappet on one part and means on the other part topermit the tappet to pass when the right drawer is inserted but whichextends into the -path of the tappet when the wrong "drawer is inserted.

3. The combination with a filing cabinet having a plurality ofcompartments, of

drawers to be inserted in said compartments,-

said distinctive cooperating means on each drawer and correspondingcompartment for indicating when a drawer is placed in the wrongcompartment, said means comprising a tappet on one part and a passage onthe other part to register with said tappet, the

tappets and passages being difi'erently arranged on the several drawersand compartments for the purpose specified.

4. The combination with a filing cabinet having a plurality ofcompartments, of drawers to be inserted in said compartments,

and distinctive cooperating means on each drawer and correspondingcompartment for indicating when a drawer is placed in" the wrongcompartment, said means comprising a tappet on one part and acooperating recessed portion 'on the other part'registering with saidtappet, one of said cooperating members being spring-pressed for thepur-v pose s ecified.

5. T e combination with a filing cabinet having a plurality ofcompartments, of drawers to be inserted in said compart-' ments, anddistinctive cooperating means on each drawer and correspondingcompartment for indicating when-a drawer is placed in the wrongcompartment, said means comprising a spring-pressed tappet on one part"drawer and corresponding compartment for indicating when a drawer isplaced in the,

wrong compartment, said means comprising a tappet on one part and'arecesse plate on the other part, said tappet having teeth ranged ontheseveral drawers and compartments for the purpose specified.

In testimony w ereof I have slgned my nameto this specification.

mam: ROIUSSET;

'to register with recesses in said plate, and the teeth and recessesbeing difierently ar- It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 0.1,286,116, t d November 26,

1918, upon the application of Henri Rouss'et, of Washington, District ofColumbia,

for an improvement in Filing-Cabinets, an error appears in the printedsp cification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 51, claim 3,for the word id read the worcl and; and that the said Letters Patentshould be read with this correction therein that the same may conform tothe record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 24th day of December, A. D., 1918.

[SEAL] F. W. IL-CLAY,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. Cl. 4=52.

